Tag: Mythology
Anatolia isn’t just where myths happened — it’s where many of them were born. Long before the Greeks moved their gods to Olympus, the people of this peninsula were telling stories about a mother goddess on the mountains, a king with a golden touch, dragons in Lycian rivers, and heroes who sailed home across the Aegean. This archive collects the most mythic corners of Turkey and the stories layered into their stones. Meet Cybele, Anatolia’s ancient mother goddess, then trace the Hellenic line through the bronze coils of the Serpent Column in Constantinople. Climb to Tlos, where Bellerophon and Pegasus are said to have lived, and walk the rock-cut tombs of Xanthos, Lycia’s haunted capital. Stand on the hill of Priene, the Ionian city of philosophers; explore the Phrygian capital of Gordion, where Midas reigned and Alexander cut the knot; or marvel at the mosaics of Zeugma, a lost Roman city that resurfaced from beneath a reservoir. Trace the Greek imagination back to the seafront at Smyrna, Homer’s likely hometown. Want to read it all with an expert? Walk these ruins with Ümit Işın, our archaeologist-guide, or stitch them into the Best of Turkey 10-day itinerary.
